A Windows demo is now available on Steam for Symphonia, a non-violent platformer with a musical theme from Sunny Peak and Headup with a TBA release date. Three years ago we reported the giveaway of what seemed to be full version of this game on GOG.com, but that link is now broken. Though we found an even earlier Symphonia (Student Project, 2020) there for Windows and macOS. Word is: "A new trailer and PC demo are available now. The demo gives players a brief introduction to the game and features elements of some of its early levels." Here's a Demo Trailer and more:

In Symphonia, you take on the role of Philemon, a masked musician equipped only with a violin and bow. They use the bow in the game’s platforming elements to navigate the world while playing the violin to bring ancient mechanisms of the world back to life. The gorgeous world of Symphonia is hand-drawn and traditionally animated and features a powerful score.

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• Capcom Summer 2024 (pay what you want and help charity).*
• ONE PIECE Franchise Sale 2024 on Steam.
• Save 50% on ICARUS on Steam.
• Save 25% on Super Woden GP 2 on Steam.
• Save 25% on Mortal Glory 2 on Steam.

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Ziff Davis Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Reaffirms 2024 Guidance - Business Wire.
• Meta shuts down Quest developer Ready at Dawn - Game Developer.
• Versus Evil veterans establish indie publisher Digital Bandidos - Game Developer.

• Brawlhalla: Vault Hunters Crossover Out Now.

• ‘Just a complete mess’- Initial impressions of the Borderlands movie are mostly negative - VGC.

• Save 10% on On Point on Steam.

• Steamworks Development - Now Supporting Larger Store Graphical Assets - Steam News.

Official trailer.

• Brawlhalla- Vault Hunters Crossover Event Launch Trailer.

• Best PC Gaming Handhelds 2024- Windows and Steam Decks - Tom's Hardware.

• Online platforms told they risk stirring up hate and violence - BBC.

• Apple security releases - 07 Aug 2024. Thanks Ant.
• What PC makers like Dell and HP will do about Intel’s extended warranty - The Verge.
• Anker redesigned its wall charger so it won’t constantly fall out of the outlet - The Verge. Giving up on the stupid suction cup brace.
• I spent a day being pampered by robots. I still had to tip - The San Francisco Standard.

• AI PCs bring new security protections and risks. Here's what users need to know - ZDNET.

• Cybercrime Rapper Sues Bank over Fraud Investigation – Krebs on Security.

Last Link of the Day: NASA Says Boeing Starliner Astronauts May Fly Home on SpaceX in 2025 - The New York Times. Thanks RedEye9.

Fortnite players who got the chance to purchase the Paradigm outfit from the game's shop last night have had a wild ride since. This post on X/Twitter from Epic Games explained this time-limited outfit was listed accidentally due to a "bug," and purchasers would have it removed from their accounts and get refunds. As one can imagine, this did not go down well with affected players, and widespread complaints followed on the socials. The outcry was heard, and in a reversal, this post backs off. The new plan is to let purchasers keep the skin if they bought it before it was removed from the shop, to refund the purchase price, and to offer a reworked version of the outfit or refunds to those who bought it when it was first offered. Here's word:

Change of plan! Bought The Paradigm tonight? You can keep her!

Her accidental return to the Shop is on us... so if you purchased The Paradigm during this evening's rotation, you can keep this Outfit and we'll refund your V-Bucks soon-ish.

We plan to create a brand new variant of The Paradigm that we'll grant exclusively to people who purchased the original Outfit. Original purchasers will also have the option to refund this item if they'd like.

Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks has raced into Early Access on Steam offering free-to-play combat racing for Windows from Caged Element and PLAION. The way forward is a little unclear, as word is the launch is "for a limited time as the development team prepares for the full launch later this year, marking the start of Season 1." A Launch Trailer is here to show off this high orctane action in the far future Warhammer 40K setting. Here's more:

In the 41st Millennium, a kult of unhinged, speed-obsessed Orks addicted to racing has gathered to engage in raucous and breakneck races during rare lulls between open warfare. They call themselves SPEED FREEKS. Intoxicated by the sound of roaring engines, blistering speed, suffocating smoke, whipping winds and scorching fire, these Speed Freeks bring their supercharged mob of war-torn buggies, bikes, tanks and trukks into the Speedwaaagh!

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Free Range Games and North Beach Games announce that the PC edition of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria arrives on Steam on August 27th, following under a year of exclusivity on the Epic Games Store. This will also mark the game's debut on Xbox Series X|S. It will come alongside what's called with The Golden Update with enhancements for the Tolkienesque survival game, including crossplay for all platforms and the full launch of Sandbox Mode. Here's The Golden Update Trailer to shower you with a look at new content, and here are the details:

Sandbox Mode: Previously only available in beta via the EGS version of Return to Moria, the full launch of Sandbox Mode allows players across all platforms to experience independent exploration and experimentation throughout the mountain. This nonlinear mode unleashes the full potential of the procedural generation system, and the game world is generated with a wide variety of random seeds, meaning each playthrough can vary significantly in layout and difficulty. Because of its inherent unpredictability and minimal tutorials, this mode is recommended for players who are familiar with Return to Moria or other survival games.

Crossplay Across All Platforms: Exploring the Mines of Moria with friends just got easier! Any player on PC via Steam or EGS, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 can now host games to be joined by any other player. Just like non-crossplay games, Steam players can host 8-player sessions, regardless of the platform the joining players are on.

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Reviews of new AMD CPUs are here, well-timed amid a spate of bad press for Intel. Here's a roundup:

• The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X Review: Zen 5 is Alive - AnandTech.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X review- Zen 5 impresses, but 7800X3D still reigns for gaming - Eurogamer.net.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X processor - Guru3D.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X processor - Guru3D.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Review - Zen 5 Sucks - Hardware Unboxed (video). Thanks RedEye9.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU review - PC Gamer.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X review - PC Gamer.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X Review - The Best Sub-$300 Gaming CPU - TechPowerUp.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Review - The Magic of Zen 5 - TechPowerUp.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X Review- Zen 5 brings stellar gaming performance - Tom's Hardware.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU Review - Mainstream Zen 5 Tested - TweakTown.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU Review - Zen 5 Gamer's Choice - TweakTown.
• AMD Ryzen 5 9600X Review - Vortez.
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X & Ryzen 5 9600X CPUs Review- The Next-Chapter of Zen on Desktops - Wccftech.

• Lighthearted Laughs Promo is here! - GOG.com.*

*Blue's News may receive a commission on sales of this item.

• Sony reports higher profits on healthy demand for its video games, movies and music - ABC News.
• Video game strike: Online games could be first to be hit - BBC.
• Sega's acquisition of Angry Birds maker Rovio helps boost profits by 181.5% - Eurogamer.net.
• Ex-Hitman, Raid- Shadow Legends devs found Chamo Games - VentureBeat.
• Shipyard Games shuts down - GamesIndustry.biz.

• Balatro sales top two million - Gematsu.

• Arma 3 - OPREP - Spearhead 1944 Update 1.1.

↑ Official patches. ↓ Unofficial games, patches, and mods.

• Silent Hill 4 just got a cool First-Person-Over-The-Shoulder Mod - DSOGaming.
• This Cyberpunk 2077 Mod disables all the fake lights when using Path Tracing-Ray Tracing - DSOGaming.

• PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Weekly Bans Notice (07-29~08-04).

• Fallout: London hotfix still on the way, along with "huge" update - Eurogamer.net.
• Blizzard Won't Patch Diablo 4's Helpful Bug - GameSpot.
• Helldivers 2 nerf controversy's back on the menu, as players unleash a firestorm of negative reviews and Arrowhead CEO promises more tweaks - VG247.
• “It’s actually gone a lot better than we thought it would” Fallout- London dev talks the massive mod's release and what the team's doing to sort all those pesky bugs - VG247.

• Zenless Zone Zero, NTE and the new wave of Chinese games pushing the limits of free-to-play - Opinion - GamesIndustry.biz.

• The First Berserker- Khazan - First 15 Minutes of Gameplay. Thanks DSOGaming.

↑ Official trailers. ↓ Content creator videos.

• Are Ubisoft Bribing Influencers over Star Wars Outlaws? - Worth a Buy. Thanks RedEye9.

• Digital Eclipse interview- ‘We’re not selling you the game, we’re selling you the history lesson’ - VGC.

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – The Final Preview - IGN.

• Google antitrust verdict leaves Apple with “inconvenient alternatives” - Ars Technica. Company behind Android was ironically subsidizing iPhone sales.

• ‘There’s no price’ Microsoft could pay Apple to use Bing: All the spiciest parts of the Google antitrust ruling - The Verge.
• Reddit CEO teases AI search features and paid subreddits - Engadget.
• Tor Project Browser version 13.5.2. Thanks Console General.
• Disney’s password-sharing crackdown starts ‘in earnest’ this September - The Verge.

Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

• AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs get official pricing – and there’s good news and bad news - TechRadar.
• Logitech’s ‘forever’ mouse isn’t happening - The Verge. We can all pretend the proposal wasn't a trial balloon.
• Dell reportedly cuts over 12,000 jobs as it seeks to 'streamline' its structure and boost profitability - Tom's Hardware.
• NVMe 2.1 Specifications Published With New Capabilities - Phoronix. Thanks Slashdot.
• KB5041979- Microsoft released new Windows 11 24H2 Recovery update - Neowin.
• AI Is Heating the Olympic Pool - WIRED (may require registration or subscription). AI and pee.
• Apple's SuperDrive for reading disks seemingly discontinued. Thanks Slashdot.
• 5 Linux distros that offer something for everyone - from beginners to pros - ZDNET.
• Microsoft Excel Now Has More Copilot Magic - How-To Geek.
• Recursion CEO Chris Gibson on Accelerating the Biopharmaceutical Industry With AI - NVIDIA Blog.
• STEM Supercharged With RTX and AI Technologies - NVIDIA Blog.
• MPC-HC Release 2.3.4 - GitHub.
• DVDFab version 13.0.2.3. Thanks Console General.

• A New Plan to Break the Cycle of Destructive Critical Infrastructure Hacks - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• CrowdStrike hires outside security firms to review Falcon • The Register.
• Schrodinger's Privacy: Best Buy Needs Your Data to Stop Selling Your Data - Louis Rossmann (NSFW video). Thanks RedEye9.

• CrowdStrike Faces a Potential Tsunami of Lawsuits. Only the Fine Print Can Save It, Experts Say - WIRED (may require registration or subscription).
• Watchdog set to fine NHS IT firm after medical records hack - BBC.
• Police recover $40M stolen in BEC scam in just 2 days • The Register.

• Case: Fractal Design Mood Review - TechPowerUp.
• Case: NZXT H7 Flow RGB 2024 - OCinside.
• Handheld: Asus ROG Ally X vs Steam Deck OLED- battle of the beefed-up handhelds - Rock Paper Shotgun. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• SSD: Solidigm D7-PS1030 6.4TB Enterprise SSD Review - Most powerful of its kind yet - TweakTown.

• The Gamer and the Psychiatrist - The New York Times. Thanks Neutronbeam…

We're about free from the siding project, as the workers have removed the scaffolding from our house. So we're almost out of the woods, though they'll still have to move their tools and stuff along a bit more before we can start parking here again. But we're right there, and it's a relief to put this behind us.

I mentioned picking up the meme RPG Raid: Shadow Legends when I busted my elbow in my car accident. I'm actually still playing, so I want to give a shout-out to my friends in the Overlook Gaming cluster for being so fun and awesome. Hey guys!

Overlooked Round-up
Thanks Ant, Neutronbeam, and Max.

Stories

• Millennials are sleeping longer and better than any other generation, says study – here's how they’re doing it - Tom's Guide.

Science

• 700,000-year-old bone discovery confirms existence of three-foot-tall early 'hobbit' humans - Euronews. Thanks RedEye9.
• Heavy Rain Just Gifted Science One Of The Oldest Dinosaurs Ever Found - IFLScience.

Media

• Honest Trailers - Gymkata.

Creature Features

• Video Shows Fire In Tulsa Living Room Starting After Dog Chews On Power Bank. Thanks Battery Technology.
• ASMR- Flying fox bats eating watermelon - Boing Boing. Vertigo warning.